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Recently I've been doing a lot of thinking about different types of meditation and which one is right for me. I am relitively new to the whole concept as I have only dabbled in it in the past. I was wondering if anyone would like to share any of any of their personal methods or philosophies. Any input what so ever would be greatly appreiciated.

hmmm..if you haven't already, check out erowid.org under mind & spirit, it has a good selection of different meditation etc methods, thats what i used to get some good ideas on ways of meditating

--------------------Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.
It isn't more complicated than that.
It is opening to or recieving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is,
without either clinging to it or rejecting it.

I think a lot of people have too narrow of a view on meditation. They think you must be cross legged with a hundred candles around you and humming your mantra. Although thats not a bad way to do it, you can meditate practically anywhere, anytime. The act of meditating is going inwards to study yourself, or perhaps just to lose yourself in nothingness. For example, driving is a form of meditation. Sitting around a campfire is also meditation. I have meditated in the middle of a room full of drunken idiots. Basically you can meditate anywhere, anytime, it is all about how you look at it. You could gain some deep insight about yourself, or just let go of everything and be one with nothing...which is the ultimate goal of meditation. Try http://www.spiritweb.com

you're right about some meditators being all caught up in the ritual, and you're right about being able to meditate anytime anywhere, but the fact is that most people (and there are a LOT) who have "my own technique of meditation" are probably not going to get any further than a slightly quieter mind for short periods of time.

that book Zen Training is excellent, get a copy if you can. i haven't found anything that compares to Vipassana meditation though. Vipassana is the style of meditation practiced by the Theravada buddhists of southeast asia, it is originally an indian style (taught by siddhartha gautama, "buddha") but buddhism was basically wiped out there by a bunch of rampaging mongols or something. anyway it's the business and I don't want to preach "I've seen the light!!!" but zen's got nothing on this stuff. actually zen's awesome too but most people don't really know how to even get started, which is why that book's good, it's the only one i know of that actually tells you what to do on the matt.

ANYWAY check out the vipassana website at www.dhamma.org and find out about your nearest vipassana centre. beginners courses are 10 days of silence and meditation (ONLY meditation) and 2 great vegetarian meals a day, staying at the centre. everything is completely free, since these are true buddhists doing their best to give the truth as they see it to those willing to listen.

oh yeah and the one fundamental thing that most people who have never learned any meditation technique overlook, and even most people who have for that matter, is that to make any real progress your spine must be ABSOLUTELY STRAIGHT!!! if you have PERFECT posture you can remain PERFECTLY STILL, and if you can't remain perfectly still then you will never reach the deeper stages of meditation. start practicing yoga or tai chi, if you're unhealthy and have bad posture you'll experience serious pain (i've been through it) or if your back's not straight you'll constantly get distracting thoughts or get drowsy or agitated after a couple of minutes of sitting.

jeez i should write a bloody meditation manual or something. check out that website.

You keep mentioning some "technique" of meditation. You make it even sound like meditation is an effort and is done to achieve something. Finally, you seem to imply that the spine position is more important then, say, your hair color...

I say, write the bloody manual, you just have the right thinking to become rich and famous....

yeah i mention meditation "technique" because there are many many different activities that different people describe as "meditation". some people mean "thinking", some people mean deep breathing, some people mean imagining a picture of some dude with lots of arms. even within those three examples there are countless "techniques" of breathing, thinking, visualising, and then you've got people chanting this and that and imaging their chakras or feeling (thinking?) themselves become one with the universe which is the goal of meditation? different techniques have different goals. there is no one thing called "meditation".

why not check out that website? you might get a good laugh out of it at least. still I feel really lucky to have found this amazing, ancient technique, and I find my meditation is becoming more and more exciting as i improve, as my posture improves and I can sit still for longer and longer periods my mind is becoming quiter and much more sensitive...don't think it will make me any money though.

but you don't need to learn any technique to sit quietly in a forest, and i guess that might be what you're saying.

Posture/position, in my opinion, isn't the most important aspect in meditation. But I'm only going by what I heard in a radio program(today as a matter of fact). Just clearing your mind and/or focusing on a particular idea, the word love,one,peace,truth,etc. can be very benificial to not only your mind, but your body as well. The main thing is to be relaxed(nothing wrong w/using a cushioned chair) and if a thought forms thats unrelated remember to start over. There is scientific evidence(not that science is the only proof) that meditation can and will help fight off disease and infection,enhance positive moods, fight off the aging process, and other positive benifits.
Do what works for you. Just remember to turn off your phone, post signs that you are to be undisturbed, well you know. Surely we can discuss THIS w/o bickering.
Can't we?

the most important thing is to be relaxed, as you said. lying flat on your back works great for relaxing, but if you get too relaxed while lying down you will almost certainly fall asleep. if you're sitting for any reasonably long period of time though, even 15 minutes, without moving, you will start to droop or lean if your back isn't straight. the whole point of the straight spine is that once it is straight the weight of your head falls straight down and it requires no muscular effort to remain there. imagine a stack of coins, if the coins are aligned well you can put a very heavy object on top without any problem, if they're not aligned then a heavy object will cause them to lean and fall. all the muscles around your vertebrae compensate for this, but if you sit for a while those muscles get tired and eventually very sore and stiff. ever noticed how a baby sits on the ground? they sit completely relaxed and their spines are perfectly straight! somehow we learn to slump, in high school if there was one person sitting with a straight back they would stick out terribly, also it looks like it's a terrible effort and that person's got a pole up their arse or whatever.

so yeah it's not necessary for simply calming your mind, and you don't need to sit crosslegged with your fingers curled up in some wierd gesture, but postures like full lotus were not designed/discovered/practiced because they look cool and spiritual but because they allow you to sit perfectly relaxed and perfectly still for extremely long periods of time.

please don't take offense, i'm not saying anyone sitting in a cushioned chair calming their mind is doing anything wrong. any efforts in this kind of thing are obviously very very good, better to do anything meditative than nothing, but i'm trying to help out, maybe what i'm saying will make sense to some of you and I think I should try because like it or not our spines are terribly important. Most of us spend our lives completely ignorant of that fact and end up with horrible back problems, many old people are in constant pain, unable to stand or sit up straight, and are reduced to hobbling along bent over almost 90 degrees....